Why four stars and not five? I think it’s because I gave relatively short shrift to how real people cast into the situation Mercy and Bernard themselves in would react to being forcibly yanked out of their old lives and dropped into new ones, in different bodies in a different world, which is a fair cop. (For examples of people who did a better job with that than I did, see Mordant’s Need by Stephen R. Donaldson or “The Fionavar Tapestry” by Guy Gavriel Kay.) Still, I’m more than happy with a four-star review, especially one that starts with a paragraph like this:

Author James V. Viscosi writes a more than capable Fantasy, breathing new life into familiar staples of the genre, while throwing in a few of his own unique and interesting spins on swords and sorcery. The writing is particularly strong, with robust characters that stride confidently through vivid landscapes, marching to the steady beat of the plot.

You can read the full review here on UBR’s main site, or here on UBR’s Facebook page.

Meanwhile, the second round of editing continues on Father’s Books. I’m at the point where two of the main characters have finally gotten together to compare notes about some of the weird stuff that’s been happening to them. And also to listen to a possibly illegally wiretapped phone call.

He looked down at it, then at her. “What’s this?”
“I recorded my call with Ms. Whittington. I want you to listen to it.”
“Oh,” he said. “I thought maybe you made me a mix tape.”
“Sorry, Richard.” She took another sip of soda. “We’re not at the mix tape stage of our relationship yet.”

Yeah, you know things have moved to the next level when you start making mix tapes Making recordings of conversations is a whole different sort of thing …